RORY FOWLING IT ALL UP AGAIN
P W D L F A Pts Castleford 21 18 0 3 699 340 36 Leeds 21 14 0 7 543 436 28 Salford 21 13 0 8 562 437 26 Hull 21 12 1 8 520 463 25 Wakefield 21 12 0 9 520 457 24 St Helens 21 10 1 10 426 376 21 Wigan 22 9 3 10 505 518 21 Huddersf’d 21 8 3 10 483 468 19 Warrington 22 8 2 12 400 551 18 Catalans 21 7 1 13 417 611 15 Widnes 21 5 1 15 345 570 11 Leigh 21 5 0 16 396 589 10
8pm JOEL MOON should be a candidate for Super League’s top individual honour, says Hull FC coach Lee Radford.
The Aussie (right) made a successful switch from centre to half-back this season and has been a key figure in the Rhinos’ charge to second place.
Hull travel to Leeds tonight and Radford said: “Joel Moon’s caused everybody damage and in my opinion should be a real leading contender for Man of Steel. Leeds are a threat right across the park.” 8pm SALFORD coach Ian Watson is backing his side to respond to their 50-24 home defeat to Leeds when they face Super League leaders Castleford. Watson (right) said: “As a group throughout the season we have always learned from our experiences and have always come back stronger. “We have spoken about it all during the week and we know we will be better. They are a good group and we will fix up what went wrong.” RICKIE FOWLER kept his head while his good friend Rory McIlroy was losing his at the Scottish Open.
Two years ago Fowler finished in blistering style to win this event but couldn’t make it back 12 months later to defend his title.
So having waited this long to make his return, the Californian wasted no time in returning to the top of the leaderboard he’d dominated at Gullane in 2015 – at least until Mikko Ilonen came in with a stunning sevenunder-par 65.
Fowler’s opening round of 67 was matched by Ian Poulter, Padraig Harrington, Andrew Dodt, Paul Peterson, and Callum Shinkwin, all two adrift of first-round pacesetter Ilonen.
But his playing partner McIlroy is still struggling just a week before the Open – his opening 74 leaves him staring at the prospect of a third missed cut from four outings.
Yet Fowler claimed McIlroy is not far away from hitting form again.
He said: “I know Rory didn’t make the swings that he wanted to today but he did a great job hanging in there and showing some grit. He’ll be fine, he’s one of the best in the world.”
Fowler said he is delighted to be back at the Scottish Open and even more pleased to be bang in the hunt after round one.
He said: “I would love to have been here last year – it was tough to miss it. But it was all schedule-related with The Open running into the Olympics. So I’m just glad to be back and excited to get off to a good start. I’ve been playing well. And this is my favourite way to prepare for The Open.”